Son is finally thinking about changing his car.
He wonders if anyone has had experience of the Honda Civic 2.2 CTDI, around 2006-2009 vintage ? He has a limited budget, pays his own bills/fuel and mostly motorway driving, not a town runabout.
He is looking for japanese reliability.
Any helpful and informative comments appreciated.
Thanks
Brian.

 

They suffer from clutch issues, quite well documented on the forums, also injector wear problems.

 

It's also an old vauxhall engine I believe, if he's after reliability maybe the Toyota Carrolla or Avensis with D4D engine.

 

Thank you both, I'll pass that on to him.
Cheers
Brian.

 

Absolutely superb engine - extremely reliable, very torquey and can actually be revved a bit higher than most diesels, so quite enjoyable to drive (for a diesel). Clutches tend to wear quite quickly - more of a problem if the car is remapped. A simple remap takes these close to 200bhp quite easily, with over 300lb/ft of toque (hence the clutch issues). Nice handling car considering the weight up front. Brakes are not the greatest but no worse than on many cars of similar spec. Overall, really good reliability, as you'd expect from Honda. A friend of mine has a tweaked one of these running 240bhp and over 330/lb/ft, BBK and other handling upgrades. He tracks it regularly and it's hilarious watching the reaction of the drivers of more exotic cars, wondering why the hell they can't shake off a diesel hatchback

 

I bought one in october only issue i have had is the clutch has started to slip

 

Thanks for the updates.
Cheers
Brian.

 

Tell him to make sure he changes oil regularly too.

 

got one

no problems reported with it in nearly 4 yrs

 

Crap economy and high road tax for a diesel!

 

Wil it blow up its turbo/clutch/flywheel /injectors sooner or later is the question , like eqivalant ford

 

My 2008 1.6tdci Focus is still going strong at 136000 miles on original turbo & clutch and I properly abuse it daily from cold! £30 road tax and 60mpg on a run. Brilliant cars as a daily driver (I have had the DPF removed)

 

The wife has a 2007 cdti se, with the pano roof! and loves it, 46mpg around town 60+ on a run, and goes well for a deisel drives very nice too!

 

Thanks all, every comment has been passed on.
Brian.

 

60+ mpg on a 2.2 turbo diesel.. I'd like to see that!! Manufacturer claims on that car is 65.7mpg extra urban and 42.8mpg urban which aren't even realistic, as they are calculated in laboratory conditions.

 

Problem with the clutch is when it goes which it usually does then you usually need to replace the DMF also (total cost for both around £500/£600 from euro car parts, not included the labour). So you will end up paying about £900 all in. Ensure the clutch part number ends in .925 as these are the updated ones.

Also check the exhaust manifolds (common problem) you usually can hear it inside the cabin and often smell the fumes when driving. (again another expensive fix as quite labour intensive. (they did extend this warranty for 10 years which is handy)

As stated above injectors can often leak, usually drivers side (number 1) and often changing the seals they can break removing them)

Another problem is squeaky clutch pedal which is very annoying, Honda say to replace the master cylinder to resolve this issue.

For the engine/turbo etc as far as i know pretty much bullet proof but worth ensuring the car you want has a full service history.

Worth getting one but i would probably get a newer one and try and find one with the clutch that has been done.

 

Return trip from Glasgow to Belgium Grand Prix via the Chunnel and averaged above fully loaded

 

Did you do the whole journey at 40mph

 

nope sat jut above the limit on the motorway but not too excessive to draw attention

 

Isuzu actually...and it was the 1.7 that was used in Vauxhalls not the 2.2 The Honda 2.2 is a differnet unit with Bosch common rail (EDC16 IIRC which is the same as most european common rails - BMW, Merc, VW, PSA etc). We regularly see Combo vans for routine work with the 1.7 engine with well in excess of 200,000miles.

Conversly I'd avoid the Corolla/Avensis d4d engine due to the ****-eyed denso fuel system and repeated cylinder head problems (manifests as a blown gasket).

 

I have the same 2.2 diesel in an 07 accord.

The one comment i would add is that service costs can be a bit expensive even when done as a DIY job. I have stuck with Honda's recommended Castrol 0W30 oil which gets changed every 10K miles. It takes about 6.5l on an oil change and use about a litre between services it runs at between £10 - £12 a litre.

Personally I like the honda 2.2 - it revs freely, and pulls consistently throughout the rev range, I range on average 600 miles from a full tank, in the Accord which is about 50mpg - I would expect a slight increase from the civic if driven modestly.

Pay attention to any model with noisy timing chain - these are expensive to replace.

 

Continued "Thanks ".
Comments much appreciated and passed on.
JBL.

 

Have one in the family:
Check out the owners forums for common problems.

165,000 miles on an 07 plate 2.2CDTI Type S GT, owned from new, so far it's had:
Numerous driver's side hinge pins - they like to drop out
3 replacement clutches - one was on warranty.
1 new turbo
Numerous new front fog light glass.
Cleaned the EGR valve a couple times now
New front shocks
Various suspension bushes - This one is expected.
3 replacement Manifold Pressure Sensors
Alternator
Couple new batteries - This is again expected

Averages 40mpg on mainly single carriageway and dual carriageways A roads driven at sensible speeds
Average performance
Visibility all round is poor, especially when reversing.
Headlight performance is poor, though can be solved with an HID retrofit.
Clutch pedal squeak

On the plus side, the radio isn't bad for a stock unit and the diesel engine is pretty smooth compared to other brand diesel engines.

If your son is looking at one with the GT sports suspension, I'd suggest a test drive first as it's not exactly pot hole friendly but does feel stable at high speeds on smooth roads.

The exhaust manifold cracking and putting diesel fumes into the cabin can be a common problem too.

If you want reliability, stick with their petrol engines.

PS The onboard mpg computer is a bit (very) optimistic - Best to work it out yourself with miles vs litres put in the tank.